Charlie Beljan Lighting A Smoke On Practice Range At Northern Trust Open

And someone is always out there arguing that golfers aren’t athletes. Pfft. You show me a guy who can light a smoke on the practice range and walk 18 holes at the Northern Trust Open and I’ll call that guy an athlete.

That athlete Sunday was Charlie Beljan, who entered the final round tied for second. The guy is best known on the PGA for a panic attack he had a couple years ago, which was brought on because he hadn’t eaten. The guy is very picky about food, according to the L.A. Times.

He was so picky about what he would eat that sometimes he just skipped eating entirely. On the day of his panic attack, he had not eaten.

Now, he says, he is not afraid to snack on the course as needed.

“Lots of bananas,” he said. “Probably a lot of junk food too, that I shouldn’t be eating, but it tastes good.”

Beljan said he felt “a little bit” of anxiety Thursday and Friday but said he has learned how to manage the condition. He has had no full-blown attacks on the course since that Florida episode.

The better Beljan plays, the more likely he will be asked to discuss his anxiety publicly, from one city to the next on the tour, all across the country.